Each of us – at one time or another has said “If you want something done well, do it yourself.” And some of us actually believe it. But how true is it – really?
Most children’s facility owners are overworked, boot-strappers who have limited budgets so the do-it-yourself mantra is common. But look at the reality of this. Our original statement may just not be as true as we would like to believe it is.
Look at everything that you try to do for yourself.
It is a long list – much of which is very critical to be done accurately and in a timely manner. Can you met that criteria? You would expect any employee to do so, so you must be able to do the same – or delegate this to someone else who has the knowledge and the bandwidth for it.
Dance Teacher Magazine’s recent article by Rachel Rizzuto shares a great example of how a former Knoxville, Tennessee studio dance studio owner saw the light on her DIY failures. This example talks about accounting duties. And these activities are so critical that accounting is probably one of the first areas you should consider handing over to experts. In fact, one of our partners and blog contributors, Sean Dever, is one of the accounting resources that Ms. Rizzuto mentions in her article. Her comments point out that often those who hand accounting over to certified accountants greatly improve their financial situation with this simple change.
What other jobs in your facility might be offload options?
Really consider where your strengths lie and where others might be able to make contributions that will make your business better.
What about doing a floor installation yourself? Even if the Internet instructions look like something you can handle, why would you risk something as important as the floor that everyone in your facility uses everyday to being installed at a subpar standard?
Sometimes out of desperation cloaked as ingenuity, owners do things like put entire floors in upside down and layer shower curtain liners under the floor to keep water out. Floor installation companies have some wild but true stories. Read more about DIY floor installation pitfalls in The Dangers of Too Much DIY.
What about teaching? Would you like to offer specialized teaching that you don’t have? You may be great at choreography, performing and organizing your business. But you may not be the best person to be the lead instructor at your studio. This may not be easy to admit, but take a long, hard look at what is best for your facility and students.
Take a look at the example Ms. Rizzuto provides in her article. This may help you to see how to analyze situations and needs to make difficult choices.
